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Every spring, Professor John McLaughlin takes emerging environmental scientists up mountains and down rivers to conduct research and get a feel for what fieldwork is really like. Being away from campus, away from everything, can be life changing.

“Field Camp was the single greatest learning opportunity I experienced in my time here at Western,” said Bruce Cudkowicz, who is graduating in June with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science.

Environmental Sciences (ESCI) Field Camp is an immersive, 15-credit block of integrated courses spring quarter that gets students out into the field to conduct research. Participants go on two research expeditions and present their findings at Scholars Week as faculty/student collaborations.

“Science is a verb, a practice guided by observation, experience, and critical thinking,” said McLaughlin, the faculty member behind ESCI Field Camp who also teaches ecology and riparian conservation in the Environmental Sciences Department at Western. “ESCI Field Camp honors this philosophy by engaging students in all stages of scientific practice in their own ‘authentic’ research.” McLaughlin has been taking Western students on river expeditions as part of ESCI Field Camp since 2018.

“There is no better place to learn about the environment than within the ecosystems we are studying,” said Cudkowicz, who participated in the program in 2024. “Field Camp provided a breath of fresh air in my education by taking us out of the classroom and immersing students in real-world environmental science.”

But ESCI Field Camp is no walk in the park – it’s a huge commitment, and it can be physically demanding. After a couple weeks of orientation on field methods, ethics, conservation, safety, literature review, and project and research planning on campus and around Bellingham, the cohort will spend most of the next four weeks in the field.

In April 2025, the ESCI Field Camp cohort backpacked into the Elwha River ecosystem restoration site on the Olympic Peninsula, spending about nine days off-grid working on their research. The removal of two dams and restoration of the river to its free-flowing state provides a unique opportunity to study changes a decade after dam removal.

Their second expedition involved a 90-plus mile river trip beginning in northeast Oregon and traveling along the Grande Ronde River into southeast Washington, ending on the Snake River, just upriver from the four Lower Snake River Dams.

“Research conducted along the Grande Ronde River may contribute to pre-removal baseline information if or when the Lower Snake River dams are removed,” said McLaughlin. “The prospect of removing the Lower Snake River Dams has attracted intense interest regarding salmon conservation, Indigenous justice, energy supplies, and the status of rivers in our society.” The Grande Ronde River expedition is analogous to going back in time to the Elwha River before its dams were removed.

Before ESCI Field Camp, most students have completed instructor-designed projects, but few have designed and conducted research that is all their own, a rare opportunity for undergraduates.

“Field Camp allowed me to break into the realm of asking and answering my own scientific questions,” said Cudkowicz.

Under faculty mentorship, students in ESCI Field Camp work in small groups to identify research interests, review scientific literature to identify knowledge gaps, formulate research hypotheses, and design sampling protocols. Each group tests its protocols at a local field site before conducting its research on an expedition.

Because the fieldwork happens in wilderness settings, participants also receive training in navigation, risk management, group organization, rope skills, river travel, food preparation, living with wildlife, and “leave-no-trace” practices. Learning how to be safe and comfortable outdoors is essential to fieldwork.

On returning to campus, the groups analyze their data to evaluate the hypotheses, produce written scientific reports, and prepare to present at Scholars Week as faculty/student collaborations in week seven. marks the 25th anniversary of the week-long celebration of outstanding student creativity, research, and accomplishment. 

While the opportunity to complete mentored and intensive fieldwork, present findings at Scholars Week, and, ultimately, create publishable research is often the motivation for participating in ESCI Field Camp, these aren’t the only outcomes. Students also develop strong teamwork and collaboration skills and increase scientific self-efficacy and confidence in their scientific ability, which can motivate students to continue doing science, whether they are going on to graduate school or jumping into careers. 

McLaughlin says the relationships formed during ESCI Field Camp can last a lifetime. The groups are not only designing, conducting, and presenting research together, he said, “they're traveling together, cooking together, camping together, supporting each other. That form of community is a transformative opportunity that I found works really well, and something I wish more people could benefit from.”

“Field Camp changed the course of my educational and professional trajectory,” said Cudkowicz. He and his ESCI Field Camp research team members, Joey Lane (’24, B.S., Environmental Science) and Karson Nicpon (’24, B.S., Environmental Science), spent the last year preparing to submit their 2024 ESCI Field Camp research for publication as “Effects of Lupinus rivularis on invasive species in reservoir restoration sites following Elwha River dam removal, Olympic National Park” in the journal Northwest Science.

The group studied the effects of riverbank lupine (Lupinus rivularis) on neighboring plant communities within the dewatered reservoir bed at the Elwha River dam removal site. They found that as lupine density increased, native plant cover and diversity increased, but invasive plants did not. 

Scholars Week gives the groups an opportunity to practice presenting in a formal setting. Cudkowicz and his group have since presented their lupine research at two national conferences.  

“The vast majority of undergraduate instruction is confined within classroom walls,” said McLaughlin. “By working together to achieve ambitious challenges, we become better scientists and more genuine human beings.”

“I found my time away from campus to be incredibly refreshing,” said Cudkowicz. “I got to witness the progression into springtime from the field and it provided me with a wonderful sense of appreciation for the natural world.”

To learn more about ESCI Field Camp, including McLaughlin's “Top Ten Reasons to Do Field Camp” and more examples of student-designed research projects, visit the .

Jennifer Nerad covers Western's College of the Environment for the Office of University Communications. Have a great story idea? Reach out to her at neradj@wwu.edu.

�������� Communications intern Lili Luna Cruz contributed to this story.